Chicago, the Beautiful

Chicago the Beautiful (1948)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

MGM's TravelTalk entry taking a look at the various landmarks in Chicago with James A. FitzPatrick once again doing the narration. Having been to Chicago a few times for some concerts, I was a bit more interested in this short since you get to see how the city was so many years ago. This one also stands out a bit more because of the countless gangster movies that took place in Chicago so we can see some of the actual locations. This short does a good job at showing off all the historic stuff in the city from various skyscrapers to some of the more famous hotels. We also get a look at some of the smaller stuff that includes all the fisherman off Lake Michigan and I must admit that I was shocked to see how clear the water was back then. Another nice sequence shows us what survived the 1871 fire.

This travelogue by James FitzPatrick is another of his informative overviews, in this case Chicago, the great Mid-Western city in Illinois, the heart of America. We start by seeing Chicago in a series of aerials overlooking the huge metropolis. Chicago has a large cluster of buildings, including many well designed ones. The city at the time is the transportation hub of the United States and the largest in the world. There are hundreds of railroads passing through the city and this vast network for the travelling public has given rise to many large hotels. We are introduced to the Stevens Hotel with some 3,000 rooms. Also, the Morrison Hotel the tallest in the United States. We hear about other the Palmer House on State Street. State Street is described as a huge retail district for the shopper.

Chicago is an architectural delight and there are tours of the Chicago River which allow breathtaking views of the magnificent skyscrapers. The oldest is the highly ornamented Water Tower which actually survived the great fire of 1870. However, it is modest by the standards of this film made in the 1940's, and even more so now. The Museum of Industry was built for the exposition of 1893, a relatively short time after the Great Fire, which gave way to a building boom and many of the great buildings are still standing. The Wrigley Building and the Chicago Tribune Building are also among the gems found here. We are treated to a tour of the "Gold Coast" with a large number of wealthy residences on the Outward Highway along Lake Michigan. The lake is an air conditioner for the city because its cool air relieves residents from the summer heat of the Mid-West.

There is clearly a lot to explore in Chicago - its streets, buildings, industry, history and people. Thanks again to James K. FitzPatrick for a glimpse of this city as it was in the 1940's, much of which still applies into the 21st century.

I am an imported "Chicagoan". I live in Plainfield and have been in the region since 1978. I came from Pennsylvania, have lived in Ventura and Los Angeles CA and though I love PA's terrain, and the sugar maples in fall, and crave the ocean of CA, I absolutely love Chicago. I think it is the most beautiful large city in the country, with 28 miles of public lakefront -- incomparable! How special is that.

My husband and I have explored with the Architectural Foundation tours of the river, lake and streets. We have gone on Art Institute explorations of the city including the great cemeteries and neighborhoods. We are members of all the major museums, zoos, botanical gardens, etc. We also attend city-wide and neighborhood festivals. We have entertained guests at events on the water, and elsewhere, for events like the air and water show, Venetian Night, and the July 4th fireworks (previously July 3rd). We subscribe to Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theater, Grant Park summer concert series. We financially support WTTW, WBEZ, and Chicago's small theaters which Chicago is fortunate to have in abundance. We have sailed on the lake in small craft, used the beaches, gone smelt fishing on cold April nights, eaten at the little fish shack that used to be on the waterfront.

We gave a surprise 16th birthday party for one of our daughters in a hotel overlooking the lake and Navy Pier which had fireworks on the night we stayed over -- quite a memorable event. A variety of hotels have hosted us with my my extended family members from PA. They, too, are now Chicago lovers.

Obviously, we love the city, and avail ourselves of its many enchantments. Having seen all this in the last 35 years it was a very special treat, indeed, to see what all these places looked like 30 years before I arrived here with my fairly recent husband of Plainfield origin.

This is a beautiful documentary done in superlative style for its time. The visual clarity in our current times of Hi Def may cause many to downrate this video. It was state of the art at the time and needs to be seen in that light. The film is a very thorough tour of all aspects of the city. Thoroughly enjoyable, especially for those interested in history and architecture.

A quick look at Chicago landmarks is essentially what this short subject in the TravelTalk series by James A. FitzPatrick offers.

It starts with what the narrator calls a picturesque skyline and a glimpse of some of Chicago's great hotels, the aquarium, the huge museum and library, and goes on to show the Chicago Tribune's skyscraper building and the enormous Merchandise Mart.

Lake Michigan is featured prominently, the source of commercial shipping and private boating pleasures.

Chicago has 40 railroads which we get a fleeting look at and a view of the colorful and busy theater district along Randolph Street; the Marshall Fields shopping center along State Street; the Gold Coast, an exclusive section for wealthier citizens along the waterfront beaches;fishermen along the wharf; and finally, mention of several surviving landmark buildings from the 1871 Chicago exposition, as well as surviving structures from the great fire of Old Chicago.

It closes with a view of the Buckingham Fountain, which looks like it belongs at a World's Fair exposition as the sunset settles on the horizon.

An MGM TRAVELTALK Short Subject.

Our whirlwind trip into CHICAGO, THE BEAUTIFUL will take us along State Street & Lake Shore Drive. We'll travel the Chicago River & see vast Lake Michigan. The Wrigley Building, the Palmer House and the grand Merchandise Mart are just a few of the mighty edifices we pass on our way, before looking at some survivors from the Great Fire of 1871.

This is one of a large series of succinct travelogues turned out by MGM, beginning in the 1930's. They featured Technicolor views of beautiful & unusual sights around the globe, as well as vivid, concise commentary. These films were produced & narrated by James A. FitzPatrick.